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Ursine
Human scholars have never truly known the extent of the Bear-kin lands. When the settlers of Adirondicka first encountered the Bear-kin, they were seeing the southern most tip of the Bear-kin settlements. In truth, before the war with the settlers, the Bear-kin could be found along the entire northwestern peninsula of Orelisle. During this time the Bear-kin, dryads and forest spirits of the area lived in peace and despite their proximity the two groups rarely interacted. Bear-kin society at this time consisted mostly of small independent clans, as the need for any kind of central government or leadership was unnecessary. After the fateful battle of the Red Banks the Bear-kin who had witnessed the deal between the humans and the forest people grew resentful and felt betrayed. This boiled over in some of the younger, more impulsive Bear-kin causing them to attack the forest. This caused the ents to further attack the Bear-kin but unable to tell the difference between the Bear-kin who attacked them and the peaceful Bear-kin that dwelled within Ivoran, began attacking any Bear-kin they saw. This in turned caused more Bear-kin to fight back, most of whom were unconnected to Adirondicka in any way. This process continued until the conflict had snowballed all the way to the upper edges of the Ivoran. One daughter of a clan chief tells her story of the first day: I was awoken early one morning when the earth rumbled beneath me. Frightened, I crawled over to my mother, who was chief at the time and woke her up. She told me not to worry it sounded like one of the friendly forest people who lived nearby. She got up and put me on her shoulders to show me our neighbors, at the time I thought nothing of it but thinking back she did seam a little confused mumbling something about there being an awful lot of them. As we emerged from our home we saw most of our clan awake looking to my mother. She walked forward, me still on her shoulders, while the thumping and creaking continued around us. We waited at the edge of the clearing, as the thumping grew louder. Finally, a huge ent emerged from the forest walking straight towards us. My mother put me down and walked forward warms outstretched in greeting saying ‘Hello forest brother what brings you to our home this morning?’ I had followed my mother and was clinging to her leg as the ent before us silently lumbered forward. More ents emerged from the forest behind the great tree as he raised his arm shouted ‘Enemies of the forest!’ His thick trunk of an arm began to swing down, and I saw my mothers eyes widen in shock. Her last action in this world was to throw me half way across the clearing. As I lay dazed on the ground I remember hearing more shouts and scream around me. I sat up, still dazed, to witness the slaughter of my friends and family. I survived by crawling into my favorite hiding spot I used to use when playing with the other cubs. I was the only survivor. -Sigrid Calm-paw For months the region was in total chaos, unknown to the Adirondickian settlers who had started it. The conflict isolated by the enchanted forest of Ivoran. By the end the race was split down the middle, those Bear-kin living to the south in what would become Adirondicka took to the caves, carving out a new society below the ground. Those bear-kin living to the north or survivors of Ivoran retreated into the snowy north where plant life struggled to grow. At this time the Bear-kin where still loosely associated clans fighting for the scarce resources in their new snowy home. That is until Ursus the Greater rose to power and began a decade of conquest and treaties that would eventually unite the Bear-kin. Many of those that came willingly were swayed by his promises of retaking the “lands of old”. Those that didn’t were mainly those that grew up in the area. Ultimately, Ursus had his kingdom. To distinguish themselves and give new life to his people Ursus took the name Ursine for their kind. Bear- kin became an insult, as they believed the Adirondickian Bear-kin were weak pets of the humans (they did not know that the southern Bear-kin were waging their own guerilla war). The History from this time on is difficult to distinguish due to the Ursine focus on militarization and growing stronger. What is known is that Ursus has not lived to see his dream of retaking his homelands come to fruition. Also the Ursine have recently begun sending out scouts from the snowy north to gather information and bring back helpful trinkets to help the Ursine. These scouts give a wide birth to Ivoran and Adirondicka landing mostly in the Arlaven Glades and Marujai. These individuals are generally quiet, attaching themselves to a party of adventures in search of artifacts and allies. What little knowledge about Ursine life has been gathered from of handed comments, observations of the scouts, and drunken ramblings. They go as follows: 1). Ursine life has a heavy military focus. Mages and healers are very rare among the Ursine, Healers in particular. This is due to most trying to stay and help the injured when fleeing from Ivoran. 2). Because of this lack of healing, Ursine culture has become heavily about ensuring the community survives. Often times the sight of a comrade being injured will send an Ursine into frenzy, pushing them to great feats for the sake of revenge. Also due to the communal nature of the Ursine strong shows of emotions tend to make the Ursine uncomfortable. Furthermore signs of personal weakness are generally hidden from the party, its not uncommon for an Ursine to collapse from a wound sustained hours previously because he didn’t feel like treating it. 3). One of the biggest complements an ursine can give you is a request to spar. This gesture means that the Ursine cares enough about you that they want to make sure you’re strong enough to survive. 4). The Ursine do not trust any kind of plant folk and are weary of humans. The scouts at least are not openly hostile towards either group but also noticeably don’t go out of their way for them. Category:Places Category:Lore